Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour in Nepal 8 nights 9 days

Trip Overview

Nepal is reach in culture, tradition and religion and the peculiarity of these is sure to leave all of its visitors in awe. Nepal has been serving as the sacred site for religious practices from the time immemorial. Among many of the religions practiced in Nepal, Buddhism is one of the major one. Thanks to the fact that Nepal has been gifted with various Buddhas over the centuries that Kathmandu (the capital of Nepal) and its periphery have hundreds of meditational caves, monasteries and Stupas related with Bodhisattvas, Shiddhas and Buddha. There are many meditation cave around the valley of Kathmandu like those of Guru Padmaswambhava, MIlarepa, Naropa and Tilopa. The Maratika cave of Halesi and Namobuddha Monastery has been budding as the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites outside Kathmandu. Given with the fact that Nepal is blessed as the birthplace of Gautama the Buddha, his birthplace Lumbini is also one of the center of attraction for many Buddhist pilgrims. There are over 60 archeological sites identified around Lumbini and it includes the only unexcavated Buddha relic Stupa of Ramgram.

This tour package is a very short one and it focuses on the pilgrimage and tour at the same time. If you are core Buddhist and visiting the Buddhist pilgrimages around Nepal and learn about the way of practicing them, this tour package is a perfect gateway for you. Even more, this package is also suitable for all travel lovers.

Itinerary

Day 01: Arrive Kathmandu.
Upon your arrival in Kathmandu, a representative of Age Holidays will receive you from the Tribhuvan International Airport. There is proper arrangement of transportation facilities from airport to the hotel where you will be residing for overnight. You can enjoy the rest of the time in the hotel or stroll around the ancient streets of Thamel. In the evening, Age Holidays will host a dinner program along with some cultural program. It will also provide you with an opportunity to meet the staffs of the company. They will also be briefing you about the trip that you are making.

Day 02: Buddhist sites of Kathmandu.
This day begins with the breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast, start the guided tours to the various sites of Buddhist pilgrimages around the Kathmandu valley. The tour begins from the temple of Swayambhunath. This temple marks the pilgrimage site of equal importance to both Hindus and the Buddhist. From Swayambhunath, we head towards the Stupa of Bouddhanath. Bouddhanath also marks as one of the prominent Buddhist pilgrimage site of the Kathmandu valley. The dome of Boudhanath is considered to be one of the biggest shrines of Nepal. Furthermore, the tour continues towards Naropa and Tilopa caves of Pashupatinath. The tour further leads to the oldest existing Buddhist city of Patan. After visiting Patan, we get back to Kathmandu to have our overnight stay.

Day 03: Fly to Lumbini
Age Holidays is your one stop travel companion. While you were visiting those Buddhist sites the previous day, the team of Age Holidays worked for booking your flight towards Lumbini. So depending upon the schedule of your flight, a representative of Age Holidays will escort you towards the domestic airport of Kathmandu for your flight towards Lumbini. Upon reaching Lumbini, one of our representative will meet you and leads you to one of the best hotels at Lumbini for overnight.

Day 04 - 05: Lumbini Buddhist Circuit Tour
Lumbini and its surroundings are dotted with archeological sites related with Lord Buddha. There are over 60 excavation sites among which some of them are popular Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The legendary Lumbini garden is now developed into a sanctuary that is spread over the 6 sq km area. The Mayadevi temple houses the marker stone and foundation of ancient temple resembling the exact birthplace of Lord Buddha. Monastic zone is developed into World Buddhist center with monasteries constructed by Buddhist communities from different countries. Ruins of Kapilavastu palace has been discovered 27 km west of Lumbini.The ancient capital of Sakya kingdom (Kapilavastu) where Siddhartha lived his early 29 years as a prince. Along with other structures, one can still observe the remains of the eastern gate through which Prince Siddhartha took great renunciation.Ramgram Stupa is the only Stupa which still retains Buddha relic in its intact form. When Buddha attained 'Mahaparinirvana', his body was cremated. The mortal relic was divided among the 8 claimants. While other Stupas were later excavated by Emperor Ashoka or distorted in conflict, the relic remained intact until the date in the Ramagram Stupa.Kudan (Nigrodharma) has the stupa remains, where King Suddhodhana (father of Buddha) met Lord Buddha after he attained enlightenment.
Gotihawa was ancient Khemavati the birth place of Krakucchanda Buddha.Niglihawa is the birthplace of Kanakmuni Buddha. Emperor Ashoka visited both places and erected pillars with inscriptions. The pillars are broken in both places. Sagarhawa is the place where Sakyas were massacred by King Virudhaka out of vengeance. About 70,000 Sakyas were killed in the massacre. The sakyas didn't strike back as they believed in nonviolence. So during these two days, we will get most of the information regarding the birth place of Gautama the Buddha.

Day 06: Fly Back to Kathmandu
This day, depending upon the schedule of the flight, we fly back to Kathmandu. After getting back to Kathmandu, a representative of the company will receive you and lead you towards your designated hotel. You can spend the rest of the day by strolling around the ancient streets of Thamel or just by resting in the room of your hotel.

Day 07: Bhaktapur Tour, Visit Milarepa Cave and Namobuddha
On this day, after breakfast, we will drive to Bhaktapur in a private vehicle. Bhaktapur city is 17 km (45 minutes) away from Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is known as 'The Living Museum' as it still retains its medieval fragrance. It is very interesting to note that just above the hill of Bhaktapur lies the cave where Milarepa meditated. This cave is also known as Bagishwari Saraswati Sthan (Manjushree cave). After visiting this cave, we drive towards Namobuddha. The Namobuddha Stupa is believed to be erected over the relic of Bodhisattva who sacrificed himself to feed starving mother tigress and her cubs. Namobuddha at 1,700 m also provides panoramic view of the Himalayas. After visiting this monastery, we drive back and spend a night in Dhulikhel.

Day 08: Visit Padma Sambhava's Asura Cave Pharping
Dhulikhel is also famous for its sunrise and sunset views. This hill station marks as a site where hundreds of tourists head to behold the natural sceneries. After watching the sunrise view from this hill, we drive towards Pharping. Pharping lies in the south of Kathmandu. Pharping (Yanglesho) is the place where Guru Padmashambhava attained the state of enlightenment. Guru Padmashambhava mentions Pharming to be a pilgrimage site as sacred as the Bodh Gaya. There are two major caves at Pharping which are blessed by the Guru Padmashambhava. After having a guided tour through these sites, we return back to Kathmandu to have a overnight stay in one of the hotels. You can spend the evening at the hotel by packing the luggages.

Day 09: Transfer to the Airport
This is the last day of your stay with us for this time. Our representative will drop you to the International Airport for your final departure. You can also opt to extend your stay with us for yet another adventure with the family of Age Holidays.

Cost Include & Excludes

Cost Includes:

Accommodation on twin sharing basis with breakfast at Hotel.

Both way Airport Transfer,

Domestic flight as per as itinerary

Professional Tour Guide

Luxury Land Transportation

Cost Excludes:

All Rates are Per Person.

Must have 2 or more person in each group.

Individual Tour will cost higher than listed above.

For Larger Groups, please contact us for additional discounted rates.

Food & accommodation

Food
Breakfast will be served at your hotel for your all sightseeing destination. Lunch and Dinner is on your own.

Accommodations
You will stay 3/2 star or similar type of hotels in your sightseeing destination.

Trip Facts

Trip Duration: 9 Days

Activities: Cultural Tour, Visit Buddhist Temple

Trip Grade: Easy

Maximum Altitude: 1300m

Accommodation: Standard hotel

Transportation: Private car/ van

Group Size: Min-2

Best Time: Mar-May/ Oct-Dec

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